Collection Design Project: Design Phase v1
We’ve now completed the first round of four workshops with 74 HE providers and a number of statutory customers to shape the design of the future in-year collection.
The collection design project is working towards recommendations for ‘in-year’ collection, but above all to design a robust, high value specification with longevity in mind.
A robust, high value specification with longevity in mind
The basic approach to data collection has not changed since the first HESA collection in autumn 1994.
HESA wants to create more relevant, reliable, comprehensive and timely information about higher education for the benefit of the sector, and to deliver this in more efficient ways which reduce the burden on providers.
Data Futures will transform the approach to data collection, delivering significant efficiencies for HE providers through:
- Rationalisation of the returns process
- Faster data processing times
- Collection and delivery of data in-year
The collection design project is working on redesigning the data collection approach, and the overarching work towards in-year collections, which will be carried forward by Data Futures.
The outcome of the project will be to support and challenge the requirements and provide suggestions and feedback for the detailed build of the Data Futures framework, which begins in February 2017.
Our challenge within the workshops was to evaluate the key characteristics of any future data collection models, and examine a number of specific approaches, to understand the benefits and drawbacks of each.
‘Supply-side’ (HE providers) and ‘demand-side’ (funding councils, governments and other statutory bodies) have different requirements and pressures, and we wanted to understand and incorporate that experience and feedback.
Within the workshops, we primarily reviewed the event-driven and report-driven options for data collection and dissemination.
The event-driven option does not cover ‘every’ event, rather it batches up known ‘business’ events. The return time would be based on what data is needed to meet a known output, but with flexibility for all types of provision.
The report-driven option would have a more structured collection schedule, collecting data multiple times a year in line with a more traditional academic year. Each collection would build upon the previous to create a complete picture at the end of the year.
We have consolidated the workshop feedback on the most commonly reported pros and cons of each option below:
| PROS | CONS | |
|---|---|---|
| EVENT-DRIVEN |
Removes separate funding returns and – in future – other collections Extends current natural business process so reduces translation effort Earlier availability of sector benchmarking data Right degree of data quality at the right time Removes the need for a HESA return specific activity |
Big effort to move to this new way of working Fluidity of data being returned / Increased requirement for reconciliation Implications of change on outputs already submitted Software supplier / In house development dependency a major concern Requires far more rigorous quality checking on entry |
| REPORT-DRIVEN |
Familiar to providers Comparability of single dataset across sector Consistent with current systems, process and outputs Visibility of onward use Simpler audit for VC sign-off |
Four times the effort as for the single return today No added value for the extra effort Data only accurate multiple times a year Changes between returns will be very hard to reconcile/explain Does not support all types of provision |
For further information on these two models, you can view our slidedeck.
Over to you
The feedback phase for Collection Design Project Phase V1 closed on Friday 4 November 2016.
We will report on feedback in our next blogpost.
We will be moving towards a full review and more detailed design in December, with further design consultation workshops in January 2017.
